Hardt: 'Everything is awesome!'

[Spider B]

I think it runs deeper than CM or Hardt. The President and BOT clearly don't understand the value that a winning athletic department could bring to UR. If they did, we would have seen changes in the athletic department years ago. The University has lost its way in all areas. Hardt and CM are just a product of that reality.

 

[whampas]

Yup. I will add that "Luck" and "hope" are not words in the Mission Statement of many successful organizations.

Hardt seems like a guy that got a good number of atomic wedgies in the Iowa Football locker room.

Absolutely and a swirly or two.

 

[PhillySpider]

It's really hard(t) to believe that a guy who only got his job because his daughter was roommates with our top benefactor's daughter turned out not to be great at the job.

That benefactor has done more harm to this University (sports and otherwise) than his money could ever buy, yet we keep him around. The housecleaning has to start there in my opinion.

 

[PhillySpider]

I think it runs deeper than CM or Hardt. The President and BOT clearly don't understand the value that a winning athletic department could bring to UR. If they did, we would have seen changes in the athletic department years ago. The University has lost its way in all areas. Hardt and CM are just a product of that reality.

See benefactor post above!

 

[Eight Legger]

The benefactor appears to have been busy tonight on Facebook on the Spider Gang page.

 

[Gospiders06]

Can we get rid of the President? A say we revolt and say no more

 

[KE Spider]

My read is that there is a sizable element within the University that would be embarrassed were we a dynamo in sports. To their minds it would shift focus from academic excellence and sell us as a "jock" school.

They do not recognize, let alone embrace, the reputational synergy to be had in excellence in both academics and athletics.

 

[Gospiders06]

My read is that there is a sizable element within the University that would be embarrassed were we a dynamo in sports. To their minds it would shift focus from academic excellence and sell us as a "jock" school.

They do not recognize, let alone embrace, the reputational synergy to be had in excellence in both academics and athletics.

Forget athletics and just read books all day

 

[MrTbone]

My read is that there is a sizable element within the University that would be embarrassed were we a dynamo in sports. To their minds it would shift focus from academic excellence and sell us as a "jock" school.

They do not recognize, let alone embrace, the reputational synergy to be had in excellence in both academics and athletics.

I actually think Hallock gets it. Guy was absolutely fired up last year during tournament and goes to all the games.

But I expect there’s a sizeable academic element aligned with what you said. I don’t know that they rule the roost though.

 

[KE Spider]

Yes, it gives hope for athletic excellence that he played college baseball rather than the cello.

 

[Wood Hall]

Since one opinions overrules everything else. It’s time to hibernate. With the basketball program/ football program heading towards free fall. The AD reaches his goal. We are free falling. Like the song

And here I thought the football program made the second round of the playoffs last fall. Guess I was dreaming.

 

[MrTbone]

And here I thought the football program made the second round of the playoffs last fall. Guess I was dreaming.

It’ll be interesting to see how much of that may be attributable to Cosh. I’m not terribly convinced that Russ suddenly made the team a ton better.

But yes they did make the playoffs, and hopefully each taste of success will remind the powerbrokers not to be overly patient when we are not. It’s reasonable to say we have a pretty permissive culture when it comes to not achieving postseason play.

 

[8legs1dream]

The benefactor appears to have been busy tonight on Facebook on the Spider Gang page.

what happened there?

 

[SpiderGuy]

It’ll be interesting to see how much of that may be attributable to Cosh. I’m not terribly convinced that Russ suddenly made the team a ton better.

But yes they did make the playoffs, and hopefully each taste of success will remind the powerbrokers not to be overly patient when we are not. It’s reasonable to say we have a pretty permissive culture when it comes to not achieving postseason play.

Add to Cosh his VMI players RU and JH. Three major pieces that had significant impact and upgrades.

 

[spider23]

I didn't realize the fix was in hiring Hardt. Maybe I dud and forgot. Wow. He has really submarined hoops. It great we have a practice facility now, but really this guy has set us back to mediocrity. I bet if his business interests were doing this bad he wouldn't stand by.

 

[Eight Legger]

what happened there?

He basically blamed academic requirements for our any perceived basketball failings and said that only 15% of starters at other A10 schools would be admitted here. He gave Mooney credit for 4 NCAAs, double counting last year's. Said we have tied St. Joe's for the most A10 titles in the past 12 years (wrong...Bona and St. Louis also have two), which is about the best we can expect. Said the football program has done well in the past 15 years.

On the positive side, I guess, he said Gill was a bad hire and there was not alignment institutionally about athletics prior to recent years but now there is.

 

[Section9.RowD]

Really like how Keith Urgo and their AD Edward Kull have personally used Twitter to galvanize the Fordham fan base versus our approach of just a generic UR BBall Spiders twitter account (that sadly continues to be prone to too many errors)

 

[8legs1dream]

when your campus is a half hour away and you are relevant for this first time since the 90s I would hope you could get some fan turnout

 

[Spider B]

My read is that there is a sizable element within the University that would be embarrassed were we a dynamo in sports. To their minds it would shift focus from academic excellence and sell us as a "jock" school.

They do not recognize, let alone embrace, the reputational synergy to be had in excellence in both academics and athletics.

Exactly. We are not an Ivy school and I dont want us to be one.

He basically blamed academic requirements for our any perceived basketball failings and said that only 15% of starters at other A10 schools would be admitted here. He gave Mooney credit for 4 NCAAs, double counting last year's. Said we have tied St. Joe's for the most A10 titles in the past 12 years (wrong...Bona and St. Louis also have two), which is about the best we can expect. Said the football program has done well in the past 15 years.

On the positive side, I guess, he said Gill was a bad hire and there was not alignment institutionally about athletics prior to recent years but now there is.

Wow. That's pathetic. Clearly they don't care about winning. Maybe they should spend more time figuring out how to overcome challenges and less time making excusues for a poor staff.

 

[Section9.RowD]

when your campus is a half hour away and you are relevant for this first time since the 90s I would hope you could get some fan turnout

Agreed .. just like the direct engagement that many ADs and coaches are doing these days and wish we had it.

 

[Eight Legger]

Exactly. We are not an Ivy school and I dont want us to be one.

Wow. That's pathetic. Clearly they don't care about winning. Maybe they should spend more time figuring out how to overcome challenges and less time making excusues for a poor staff.

My takeaway as well. It feels like we on this board care more about our success than the people in charge and the one spending the most on the program. So what's the point?

 

[8legs1dream]

He basically blamed academic requirements for our any perceived basketball failings and said that only 15% of starters at other A10 schools would be admitted here. He gave Mooney credit for 4 NCAAs, double counting last year's. Said we have tied St. Joe's for the most A10 titles in the past 12 years (wrong...Bona and St. Louis also have two), which is about the best we can expect. Said the football program has done well in the past 15 years.

On the positive side, I guess, he said Gill was a bad hire and there was not alignment institutionally about athletics prior to recent years but now there is.

I thought it had been confirmed from "insiders" here that the academic barriers had been largely removed?

 

[GKiller]

I thought it had been confirmed from "insiders" here that the academic barriers had been largely removed?

And where does PQ get this 15% number anyway. BS...sounds made up out of thin air. What percentage of A10 starters did we even look at their transcripts? The number could be accurate, tho I'd bet higher, but as stated here b4 that's a self imposed limitation. But why is a BOT member or former BOT member in this case privy to such info. Or he's getting confidential student information shared with him, another issue. To me that 15% is just trying to make u know who look good.

 

[SpiderTrap]

The barriers have not been removed. My understanding is that each sports gets a number of "passes" that they can use. I am sure basketball and football have the most for obvious reasons. But lets say Basketball has 5 passes they can use, all this means is that while standards are lowered for athletes - these 5 can be below those "athlete" standards that have been set. But the rest must be above. And while yes - our athlete standards are lower than that of a regular student applying to UR, they are still very much above other athlete standards of other schools in the A10.

 

[8legs1dream]

And where does PQ get this 15% number anyway. BS...sounds made up out of thin air. What percentage of A10 starters did we even look at their transcripts? The number could be accurate, tho I'd bet higher, but as stated here b4 that's a self imposed limitation. But why is a BOT member or former BOT member in this case privy to such info. Or he's getting confidential student information shared with him, another issue. To me that 15% is just trying to make u know who look good.

you are right, does he have full academic transcripts of every other player in the conference? smells rotten

 

[ur2K]

He basically blamed academic requirements for our any perceived basketball failings and said that only 15% of starters at other A10 schools would be admitted here. He gave Mooney credit for 4 NCAAs, double counting last year's. Said we have tied St. Joe's for the most A10 titles in the past 12 years (wrong...Bona and St. Louis also have two), which is about the best we can expect. Said the football program has done well in the past 15 years.

On the positive side, I guess, he said Gill was a bad hire and there was not alignment institutionally about athletics prior to recent years but now there is.

Did he bring up our SRS?

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

when your campus is a half hour away and you are relevant for this first time since the 90s I would hope you could get some fan turnout

to give credit to Fordham, I assume most of their students took the subway from the Bronx to Brooklyn and that is a haul, usually over an hour. I've done the reverse to go watch Richmond up there.

But either way, they turned out a LOT of support, especially students. Thousands of them. And the students were organized and engaged, they have a name for their student section, were in it the whole way. The coach name-checked the student group (shirtless something or other) in an interview on the court and called them out for why Fordham won. The players went over and celebrated with the students, the coach also made a trip to thank them after the win.

They get it.

 

[Eight Legger]

The barriers have not been removed. My understanding is that each sports gets a number of "passes" that they can use. I am sure basketball and football have the most for obvious reasons. But lets say Basketball has 5 passes they can use, all this means is that while standards are lowered for athletes - these 5 can be below those "athlete" standards that have been set. But the rest must be above. And while yes - our athlete standards are lower than that of a regular student applying to UR, they are still very much above other athlete standards of other schools in the A10.

If this is true, why are we doing this? Why??

We're intentionally putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage within our own conference -- which we freely chose to join -- and then complaining about it as the reason we can't win more? This is pure insanity. Someone end it, please.

 

[spider23]

I thought it had been confirmed from "insiders" here that the academic barriers had been largely removed?

80's fan confirmed that was the case, and we know 80s fan has claimed to have PQ in his contacts.

 

[spider23]

If this is true, why are we doing this? Why??

We're intentionally putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage within our own conference -- which we freely chose to join -- and then complaining about it as the reason we can't win more? This is pure insanity. Someone end it, please.

Hmmm, was not JB in the A10 championship game in is first year, with good academic kids?

 

[SpiderK]

It’ll be interesting to see how much of that may be attributable to Cosh. I’m not terribly convinced that Russ suddenly made the team a ton better.

But yes they did make the playoffs, and hopefully each taste of success will remind the powerbrokers not to be overly patient when we are not. It’s reasonable to say we have a pretty permissive culture when it comes to not achieving postseason play.

All our success in football last year was attributable to Reese and Reese alone.

 

[MrTbone]

The barriers have not been removed. My understanding is that each sports gets a number of "passes" that they can use. I am sure basketball and football have the most for obvious reasons. But lets say Basketball has 5 passes they can use, all this means is that while standards are lowered for athletes - these 5 can be below those "athlete" standards that have been set. But the rest must be above. And while yes - our athlete standards are lower than that of a regular student applying to UR, they are still very much above other athlete standards of other schools in the A10.

Kind of disagree with your opening statement, the barriers have been largely removed based on what I know. Of course it’s not open season, we wouldn’t take a historic “partial qualifier” but the acceptance criteria are not close to equivalent to the balance of the student body and to your point, they get selections they can put through who don’t meet the base qualifying criteria.

But honestly, I think this is a red herring argument. By comparison, Davidson has equivalent or higher standards seemingly. They have won at a high clip.

Yes we have some inherent disadvantage against the VCUs of the world, but we are not so disadvantaged as is being claimed. Plus, that’s on the university, they can adjust their policy any time they’d like.

 

[SpiderK]

UR and Davidson are the only A-10 schools with any academic requirements.

 

[Spiders10]

Hardt is a word salad wizard

 

[kneepadmckinney]

Kind of disagree with your opening statement, the barriers have been largely removed based on what I know. Of course it’s not open season, we wouldn’t take a historic “partial qualifier” but the acceptance criteria are not close to equivalent to the balance of the student body and to your point, they get selections they can put through who don’t meet the base qualifying criteria.

But honestly, I think this is a red herring argument. By comparison, Davidson has equivalent or higher standards seemingly. They have won at a high clip.

Yes we have some inherent disadvantage against the VCUs of the world, but we are not so disadvantaged as is being claimed. Plus, that’s on the university, they can adjust their policy any time they’d like.

More to the point, even if the barriers are not removed or are increased, we can still find 13 players globally that can win basketball games at Richmond. The academic requirement argument is my least favorite of them all.

 

[Spider B]

More to the point, even if the barriers are not removed or are increased, we can still find 13 players globally that can win basketball games at Richmond. The academic requirement argument is my least favorite of them all.

Of course you can. But it's easier to use it as an excuse than to find ways to be successful. The school is so lost. Sad.

 

[SpiderTrap]

Kind of disagree with your opening statement, the barriers have been largely removed based on what I know. Of course it’s not open season, we wouldn’t take a historic “partial qualifier” but the acceptance criteria are not close to equivalent to the balance of the student body and to your point, they get selections they can put through who don’t meet the base qualifying criteria.

But honestly, I think this is a red herring argument. By comparison, Davidson has equivalent or higher standards seemingly. They have won at a high clip.

Yes we have some inherent disadvantage against the VCUs of the world, but we are not so disadvantaged as is being claimed. Plus, that’s on the university, they can adjust their policy any time they’d like.

Davidson has won at a high clip - but I would say two things to that point. 1) Coaching - McKillop was very good and I think head and shoulders above Mooney. 2) Foreign players - they seemed to always have a handful of foreign players - which may have helped with the academic requirements. While not all these guys were studs/stars - they were many times valuable role players that made the stars life easier.

 

[MrTbone]

Davidson has won at a high clip - but I would say two things to that point. 1) Coaching - McKillop was very good and I think head and shoulders above Mooney. 2) Foreign players - they seemed to always have a handful of foreign players - which may have helped with the academic requirements. While not all these guys were studs/stars - they were many times valuable role players that made the stars life easier.

Totally agree. And I trust you realize you’ve just demonstrated why the problem has little to do with admission requirements and more to do with recruiting and coaching.

 

[SpiderK]

Davidson has performed much better than the Spiders since joining in 2014, but have won the same amount of A-10 championships as we have since they joined the A-10. ONE

 

[SpiderTrap]

Agree - coaching, but maybe more so recruiting and development are the big part - but admissions still plays into this.

I just hate when some fans say we lose games because the other teams have players that can't get into our school. But that is our own fault - we, UR Administration, have chosen that path. Like I said a while ago - its like running a marathon in your bare feet and then at the end saying "I would have run better if I had shoes on". Yeah - but who chose to run without shoes? YOU DID. And that is UR - we have chosen this path, so you can't use it as an excuse.